💥Does your career need some “flip the car” energy?

Before I was writing resumes for CEOs, I had a first job. And I blew it up. Not because I wanted to, but because I waited too long to listen to myself.

I don’t want you to have to do that. I don’t want you to reach a breaking point just to give yourself permission to make a move.

I did. It wasn’t graceful, and it definitely wasn’t part of a tidy five-year plan. But it was real. It came from deep inside, from the place where all the quiet yeses I’d said to things that should’ve been nos finally started to riot.

And before I knew it, I was standing in an office kitchen making coffee for a grown man who walked me through the exact steps on three separate occasions, as if he was training me to defuse a bomb instead of just fill a carafe.

This was my first real job. I didn’t know. I assumed I’d be treated like a human being: respected, challenged, mentored maybe. I thought that’s how work worked. I didn’t realize yet that some jobs ask you to contort yourself into something unrecognizable just to get through the day.

That’s where I was, working at an engineering company in an admin assistant job that didn’t require even a fraction of what I was capable of. I was smart. Overqualified. Eager. And expected to smile through things that made my skin crawl.

I was taken out to lunch by men on the leadership team who wanted to “get to know me better,” in ways that felt about as professional as a broken copier. I was scared to be alone when the building maintenance guy came around. I was avoided by other assistants because I got “attention” I didn’t ask for and sure as hell didn’t want.

But I kept going. I told myself this was temporary. I could manage. I could be polite. I could play the part. And I did, right up until I couldn’t.

The moment it all snapped into sharp, undeniable focus was on a Friday afternoon. I had spent two weeks preparing for my PTO, organizing everything, handing off tasks like I was the anchor in a relay race. And then, Friday at 4pm—four—my boss asked me to create a slide deck for him. Like none of that preparation mattered. Like my time, my rest, my effort, didn’t really count.

Something in me broke open. Loudly. I’m not proud of the explosion (there was shouting, there were tears, only time I’ve ever hyperventilated) , but I can tell you it was honest. Righteous. Necessary. It shook something loose in me that had been stuck for far too long.

I took my vacation. I came back. And then I started looking. For something real. Something aligned.

I wanted to work somewhere that didn’t make me feel small or strange or scared. Somewhere creative and values-driven and, dare I say, fun. And I found it. I landed at an incredible Arts Organization where I got to be my whole self at work for the first time in years. I only left when my second son was born and daycare for two cost more than my salary, but that’s a whole other story.

The point is this:

I don’t want you to wait until the coffee and the slide decks and the creepy maintenance guy and the cold-shoulder assistants and micro-managing, controlling boss finally pile up into a moment where you lose it and light the match.

But I do want you to find your version of that “flip a desk” energy and channel it into something productive. Something brave.

Here’s how you can do that, without burning bridges or burying your dignity:

Three ways to NOT flip the desk (until you’re ready!):

1. Get radically honest with yourself.
Not the LinkedIn-version of what’s wrong. The real stuff. What’s draining you? What’s crossing your lines? What’s making you feel like a ghost in your own life?

2. Let the frustration be sacred fuel.
You’re not crazy. You’re not too sensitive. You’re having a holy reaction to something that isn’t right. Use that. Polish your resume. Ask for help. Send the first email.

3. Don’t go it alone.
And if you’re feeling even a little bit like you might lose it, or like your spark has gone on an unapproved sabbatical, please come to our next Undeniable Session.

📆 Friday, July 11 at 12pm CT
with executive coach (and actual lighthouse in human form) Heather Tibbles Vassilev.

She’s my coach, and she’s helped me remember who I am more times than I can count. No fluff. No weird icebreakers. Just clear tools, big questions, and a way back to yourself.

We’ll talk about the real stuff: transitions, identity, energy, the voice in your head that says, “Who even am I now?” and how to answer it without crumbling.

These sessions ALWAYS include at least 20 minutes of Q&A - that means YOUR questions, answered. And as always, it’s anonymous, so ask away.

👋 Before you Go …

Not getting interviews? It might not be you; it might be your résumé. We’ll tell you in 30 seconds if it’s the problem. Book a call. Let’s remove the guesswork and get your summer strategy moving. 📞 Book a call. 

If you don't want to receive future editions of Get Her Hired’s Excited to Share Newsletter, please unsubscribe. ⬇️